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PNS Daily Newscast - March 21, 2019

The nation’s acting Defense Secretary is under investigation for promoting Boeing, his former employer. Also on the Thursday rundown: The Trump administration’s spending blueprint being called a “bully budget.” Plus, a call for the feds to protect consumers from abusive lenders.

Proposed Regulation Could Expand Internet Access in Pennsylvania

PHOTO: Classifying the Internet as a utility under the Communications Act of 1934, as proposed by the chairman of the FCC, should help ensure "net neutrality" and bring greater Internet access to rural communities. Photo credit: Mary Vogt/Morguefile.

February 5, 2015

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Internet use in Pennsylvania and across the nation may soon be regulated as a utility.

Whitney Kimball Coe, program associate with the Center for Rural Strategies, says regulation should help ensure the Internet remains a level playing field.

"The ability to communicate and have access to places where you can contribute knowledge and also gain knowledge, that just seems to be a basic human right at this point," says Kimball Coe.

Under the proposed FCC regulations, broadband providers couldn't block or degrade access to legal online content, applications, or services. They also wouldn't be allowed to favor some Internet traffic over others - in other words, no "fast lanes."

"This move to Title Two, or classifying broadband or Internet as a utility, would really close that digital divide that exists between rural and urban," she says. "It would also allow the FCC to regulate the Internet in a way that would make sure that rural areas have service."

Internet providers have rejected such regulation, claiming it would harm investment and innovation, although Wheeler is promoting the plan as a way to encourage more innovation. The five-member commission is scheduled to vote on the proposed rules on Feb. 26.